Plaut Pedagogy’s immersive software goes far beyond traditional “interactive tutorials.” Students are fully engaged through Immersive Exercises (IEs), self-contained mini-apps in which they make their own problem-solving decisions in real time and receive immediate feedback on those decisions. The software completes the basic arithmetic, allowing students to focus on problem-solving rather than inevitable, low-level arithmetic errors.

As a result, students can solve far more, and more complex, problems. Unlike external black box computational software, which simply provides answers, IEs deeply engage students in the mathematical processes that lead to those answers. Students show higher retention of problem-solving strategies, and develop mathematical instincts that will help them solve more novel problems in the future.

Benefits of Immersive Learning:

Focus on Problem-Solving: Students using Plaut Pedagogy’s Immersive Exercises (IEs) receive rapid numerical feedback on their decisions without the distraction of doing precise, low-level calculations by hand—calculations not required of STEM professionals for half a century. Instead, they learn to evaluate the results of those calculations and make the next problem-solving decision (or hit an “undo” button to assess any missteps). Students also are not distracted by entering data into computational software—a “black box” that simply gives an answer and hides the very processes the students are learning. Plaut Pedagogy’s IEs keep students fully engaged in the problem-solving process.

Streamlined and Flexible Instruction: Plaut Pedagogy’s Immersive Exercises (IEs) have essentially no learning curve and eliminate the need for external computational software. The IEs are self-grading by completion—students generally cannot get a wrong answer if they make correct decisions. Instructors have full access to details of students’ work and progress. Supplemental (and optional) written exercises are about concepts, not calculation. Instructors also have flexibility. For example, the textbook Interactive Linear Algebra and its associated software are designed to allow any level of emphasis on mathematical rigor, from a light treatment to a formal introduction to mathematical proofs.

Cheating Is Not Worth the Effort: Students must enter decisions in real time, and often receive hints and suggestions directly from the software. Even if a student finds a full solution online, they must enter the decisions in real time in the expected format, including only entering fractions (decimals are not accepted). Finding solutions online is much less efficient than learning how to do the problems, then rapidly solving many problems to retain the strategies. Students generally enjoy using the software, especially since they are freed from low-level calculations and their inevitable mistakes.